Snow
by Nautica Dawn
Summary: They say the Uchiha clan is cursed. They have no idea how right they are. /ItaSaku\
1. Prelude To Disaster

_**Snow**_

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_By Hikari Adams_

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_Prelude to Disaster_

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It was freezing behind the porcelain mask that covered her delicate features. Shivering slightly, she pulled the cream colored captain's cloak tighter around her small frame, silently cursing her mentor. 

It was the middle of winter, and she had been sent on an assassination mission where?

The Land of Snow, naturally, is what her luck dictated.

"Damn you, Tsunade," she grumbled, double-checking her hood to ensure that the tell-tale pink locks were covered completely.

She was freezing. She was tired. She was hungry. And she really wanted to kill something, but she knew that she had to be patient. She hadn't made ANBU for being hotheaded and powerful, she had made it all the way to captain by being levelheaded on missions, even if she was a little quick tempered in her everyday life.

Her target, an older man with greying black hair, stepped into her view. From her perch, high in the trees, she could see the retired military man walking slowly across the bridge. She waited until he was almost even with her before swinging from the branch fast enough to make him disappear over the edge without any of the wandering civilians nearby realizing what had just happened.

His eyes, navy and familiar, widened in shock before closing in acceptance, "So you finally found me. I should have known that someone would come eventually."

The ANBU wolf sighed behind her mask, jade eyes closing briefly before opening to reveal ice. Not that her victim could see it, the slits in her uniquely black mask were too small for him to see her famous eyes. When she spoke, it was in a measured tone several notes lower than what was normal, "Uchiha Nobu, you have been found guilty of treason by the Lady Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure. I am Toga, and I will be your executioner today."

Sai had laughed at her the first time he heard her give that little speech to a target, but she was healer by nature, and she thought it fair to let people know who their killer was.

"Toga?" the Uchiha runaway replied, "It suits you. A name meaning 'fang' for the wolf ANBU, it's so very appropriate."

She smiled beneath her mask, happy in a twisted way that he understood the meaning of her codename, "Rest in peace, Uchiha-san."

Her arm blurred, and no chance witness could have honestly said that she moved. They could, however, have been able to testify that Uchiha Nobu, known to them as Ichiro, had fallen to the ground just moments later, his life suddenly gone. But there were no witnesses, and the wolf known as Toga was safe when she stepped away, snapping her fingers. At the motion of her hand, the body before her burst into flames as white as the snow, leaving behind no evidence that a Konoha ANBU had taken a life.

She flitted away, gone before anyone could see the mystery woman in the cream colored cloak.

In the darkness of the trees that she had once occupied, a figure with ruby eyes was suddenly very angry that a little wolf had deprived him of his revenge.

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A/N: I figured it would be fun to write a somewhat-canon ItaSaku. Also, I was going through the stories list, and I couldn't help but notice that there is another story title 'Snow' under ItaSaku. It has nothing to do with this, trust me. What's I'm planning for this is something that I hope has never been done before in ItaSaku.

Have fun reading!

Disclaimer: Me no own.

_Until Next Time,_

_Hikari Adams_


	2. Chapter 1: The Black List

_**Snow**_

_Chapter One_

_The Black List_

* * *

The wind was bitter and tangy, the sharp scent of rain weighing heavily on her as she sped through the fog. The rain told her she was getting closer to Amegakure and closer to death as well. As the Akatsuki's base of operations, the city was dangerous in ways she could only imagine.

The rain was lashing at her viciously, soaking her through the thin black cloak she kept wrapped around her body. Staying alert enough to sense any danger, she let her thoughts turn back to Konoha.

She hadn't gone back after killing Nobu. She was supposed to return after every kill in order to receive an updated version of the scroll in her pouch that gave her the names and locations of her targets. No one knew about her mission, however, or the fact that she was ANBU. Every single time she returned, it was always the same. She was the only 'chunin' among the former Rookie 9, and later the Konoha 11. At least, that was what everyone thought. Naruto, always excited to see his former teammate, was now a captain in the regular ANBU, and was often away on business. His girlfriend Hinata had taken over for Sakura at the hospital, learning from Shizune the art of medicine. Sai was a part of her unit, and though he did not know of her current mission, he knew that it was something that she would talk about when she returned for good and made peace with whatever it was she had to do. Everyone else just went about his or her business, making sure to stop by and spend some time with her before she went away again.

Except Sasuke. Admittedly, she had ignored him as well. His brother was finally dead, and he would want to focus on restoring his clan when he was released from the hospital. Sakura just wanted to finish her mission—the one that was destroying his self-assigned goal—fast enough that no one discovered her actions over the past two years.

It was ironic, she realized. The more she thought about it, the funnier it became. She had wanted to help Sasuke to achieve his dreams in any way possible. Now she was destroying it.

100. One hundred. Cent. Cien. Regardless of how it was written, it was always a perfectly round number. It was a safe number, the number that students strived towards on their exams in school. It was also the number of names on the original mission scroll that she had affectionately dubbed the 'Black List'.

Black like their hair. Black like their eyes. Black like their hearts. Black like their souls. Black like their past, and black like their future.

Itachi, now dead as well, had started it. She was merely finishing the deed, wiping out the members of his clan that escaped his blade that night.

Her foot touched a tree branch momentarily, barely making a sound. In less time than it took for her stone heart to beat, she was off again.

She liked to think it was the younger generation that she hated the most. They were mere children, too young to know the tragedy of their bloodline. They hadn't been alive when the massacre happened, and they had never belonged to Konoha.

But they were still Uchiha, and the Hokage wanted them dead.

Sakura mulled over Tsunade's defense. The pink-haired medic had been adamantly opposed to the mission, but her beloved mentor had been adamantly in favor of it. The blonde had annihilated her argument against it when they had fought over the morality of the assignment.

The Uchiha clan was unstable, she had said. It was only a matter of time until they made a comeback once word got around that Itachi was dead and Sasuke was restoring the family. Tsunade had no doubts that Sasuke's restoration would go smoothly, but there were so many questions. How long would the peace last? How long until the mistakes of the past were repeated?

How long until a second Itachi was born?

The rising buildings of Amegakure came into her line of sight. She stopped on a tree branch, her image faltering. Any guards watching would see a Konoha ANBU meet with one of their own before turning away and heading home as a fellow Ame guard turned to return to the village.

Breaching Ame's security wasn't that hard, she found, but she couldn't relax as her foot sank into the mud of the rainy city's streets. This was the base of operations for the Akatsuki, and she was an enemy to all who wore the cloak of the damned. Still, she should have had no problem with nervousness on this mission. It was nothing like her first mission as a part of the Konoha Death Squad, but the buzzing feeling in her stomach was the same.

It didn't add up. Last time, she had been certain that the Hatake heir was onto her. He wasn't, as it turned out, and she had succeeded with her assignment, leaving her confident when she was assigned to Sasuke. Now she was on a radically different mission, and she felt the same. For the first time in years, she was terrified of what might happen.

Had someone from Konoha discovered her activities? Had the remaining Akatsuki realized that she was imposing on their territory?

She shook her head, checking to make sure her porcelain mask and ebon cloak were secure. The last thing she needed was for someone to catch sight of a loose tendril of pink hair.

Uchiha Kiyoshi, going by the name of Takenaka Kyo, lived with his wife and young daughter on the outskirts of the village. It was a modest home of pretty and simple traditional architecture. There were small trees and some flowers arranged around the walkway, and she spotted her namesake in one corner of the yard. Overall, it was a sweet home, like the one she had always dreamed about in her naïve years when she was still tailing a different Uchiha.

The feeling of unease had followed her to the house, but it only grew stronger as she stepped into the yard. The rain had diluted any scent that she might have caught, but she didn't need it to know that she was not the first to visit the Uchiha runaway that day. Even through the rain, the heavy scent of death and blood lingered.

Moving like the shadows she belonged to, Sakura slipped into the home, her nose wrinkling behind the mask. The entrance was empty, and there were no signs of forced entry. Beyond that was a dining room that was just as spotless, and beyond that, was a sight that Sakura had been hoping to avoid.

Uchiha Kanon must have been a pretty woman, Sakura mused. Her hair was a fine champagne that rivaled Ino's, and her eyes were open and sapphire blue. Her features seemed to be fine and aristocratic, like Hinata's, but it was too hard to say. She was small, that much was certain. The body splayed out on the kitchen floor was shorter than Sakura, and quite a bit thinner as well. She was dainty in a way that was expected of upper class women, and Sakura had to pity her for her end.

From the flaxen locks to the hem of her sage yukata, Uchiha Kanon was covered in blood. It was only close to her, and the rest of the kitchen was spotless.

Sakura's medic side kicked in immediately, noting the lacerations across her back. There seemed to be thousands of cuts racing along her skin, but there was only one fatal wound. An ANBU-class katana had been sent through her neck, and all of the other wounds occurred before death.

The kunoichi didn't grimace, as her younger self would have done; instead, she just ignored the fact that the killer had toyed with his victim before killing her.

Uchiha Kiyoshi was a lithe figure, as most Uchiha men seemed to be. His black hair was cut short, and his navy robe was elegant. Still, Sakura couldn't help but notice the way he was slumped over his desk, the papers beneath his head stained crimson. His back, covered by the dark cloth of his shirt, was likewise stained. There were other injuries that were noticeable, but Sakura ignored them as she looked closely at his open cobalt eyes. They were odd for someone who had been killed by a swordsman. The pupil was dilated and glazed over in a way that she had only seen once before.

It looked like he had been subjected to the Tsukiyomi.

She almost laughed at herself. Someone being exposed to the Tsukiyomi was impossible. Itachi was the only known user of the technique, and he was dead. Sasuke had never been to Amegakure, and he didn't have the Mangekyo. Kakashi had a warped form of it, and it wasn't capable of the lethal illusion. Even if he was capable of it, she knew for a fact that the Hatake was confined to the Land of Fire.

She shook it off and headed towards the last member of the family.

Uchiha Noriko was only three-years-old. The child had her mother's hair and eyes, something that might have saved her life had her father not been a part of her life. A part of Sakura was glad, when she reached the door to the room and felt the death inside, that she would not have to slay the girl. She paused at the door, steeling herself for what she was about to find.

She knew she couldn't go in there as a human being. She definitely couldn't go in as a twenty-three-year-old woman. She had to go in there as Toga, the inhuman being that stalked the night. She had to become the monster she was known as in the bingo books.

The door was thrown from its hinges, the paper ripped by the force. Sakura stepped gingerly into the room, quelling her churning stomach and trying not to blanch.

It was a sight that even the most hardened of the sannin would shy away from. She ignored the blood, and she ignored the body, only sparing a glance to check the work. It was undoubtedly the same killer, and one that was both sadistic and exceptionally skilled with a sword. A sword, she noted, was still present.

She stepped forward to remove the katana from its resting place in the mattress of the bed. Her green eyes flickered up to the wall for only a moment, curious as to how the crimson stains reached there until something clicked. Her medic side kicked in and she saw that the direction of the cuts suggested someone right-handed slicing downward.

The blood shouldn't have been on the wall.

She looked up, and paid attention.

_This does not concern you._

She swore loudly, tightening her grip on the sword and running. As she crossed the threshold of the home, she reached behind her and snapped her fingers. The structure, all delicate paper and wood, burst into black flames. Even in the torrential downpour of Ame, the phantasmagoric fire would consume all evidence left behind.

She could feel the Amegakure troops closing in on her position, complete with the sickeningly familiar chakra of an shark following them, and she forced her shaking body to still enough that she could truly run. Moving fast enough that it could be classified as flying, she raced towards Konoha. She knew that if she could keep her current pace, she would be able to reach her home in less than half the usual time. Physically, she was sound. Her legs moved steadily as she flew, and her reactions were perfect. She knew that she could outrun Ame's guards, and she knew that the Akatsuki swordsman wouldn't care if she got away once he noticed the black flames. So she ran, trying to quell her shaken mind. It was a difficult task as she kept half of her attention inward, and half on her surroundings. All she could really focus on was one fact that she didn't want to face.

Someone knew.

That was the only reasoning she could come up with. Someone knew what she was doing, and they wanted her to stop.

But why kill Kiyoshi and his family? And why in such a gruesome way? For families like that, Sakura used poisons, or some other method of a clean death. This person had used the katana gripped tightly in her left hand. Whoever she was up against, they wanted to make themselves known, but why now? She had been on the Uchiha destruction mission for a little over two years. Anyone who could interfere the way this person had, had to be someone who could have stepped in at any given moment. Originally, she was supposed to go to Iwa after Yuki. If this person knew she had changed destinations on a whim, it simply made the situation infinitely worse.

This was someone who knew her.

The idea of someone knowing her well enough that they could predict her movements was beyond terrible. Tsunade had given her the mission in secret. Not even the council, especially the Uchiha-loving council, knew about it. They didn't even know about the ANBU squad that Sakura led. If one whisper of the mission decided to caress the wrong ear, both the medic and the slug queen would be facing multiple charges of treason.

Under normal circumstances, she would find the leak and seal it. As the captain of the Konoha Death Squad, she was authorized to kill her fellow Leaf shinobi if they were a danger to her team and their missions, but this was different. She had a very short list of suspects, and she could rule them all out.

The Akatsuki would have been her first choice, as she had been in their territory. However, Itachi was dead, so there was no reason for the organization to become involved. The message scrawled in Noriko's blood had been one of someone involved in the Uchiha case, and Itachi was the only bearer of the red clouds that was.

Her second choice was Sasuke, but he was still in the Konohagakure hospital after returning a few months back.

A Hyuuga was her third suspect. The clan hated the Uchiha, and if they found out that some of them had survived, it would be easy for them to locate the remaining members on her list and eliminate them before her. But she knew the Hyuuga. Hanabi was a trainee member of the Death Squad, and she was spying on her family for them. The Hyuuga were still ignorant to the Uchiha's continued survival, as far as the younger kunoichi knew. Not only that, but Sakura knew quite a bit about their fighting styles, and no Hyuuga was that good with a katana. The crime scene had been messy, but no one save a master swordsman would have been able to create that kind of calculated mess.

And then there was the issue of the Tsukiyomi.

She almost froze, but kept pushing on regardless.

Sakura had to mentally berate herself. Her top two suspects were both Uchiha, so was it really that far of a stretch to assume that another Uchiha was responsible? Was it possible that one of them agreed with Itachi's massacre, and took it upon them to finish it? It had started out as an Uchiha conflict, and Haruno Sakura was not an Uchiha. Which begged the question, who left on the Black List was capable of such a thing?

Uchiha Hotaru was not her killer. The woman preferred teaching to fighting, and Sakura knew that she had taken in an orphaned girl not too long ago. All of the reports suggested her to be someone protective of her foster daughter, as well as being someone unaccustomed to the limelight. Sakura knew the type, and she was certain that Hotaru would not go out of her way to make herself known. She had settled down into life as a nameless civilian, and this was not the way to keep that up.

Uchiha Raito was also out of the question. The former tactician had wrecked the left side of his body in an accident shortly before the massacre. The swordsman responsible for Kiyoshi's death was someone who had full use of both legs, and someone forced to walk with a cane was clearly not a suspect.

Uchiha Miyuki and her brother Yasuchika were both younger than Sakura herself. They had never been trained as shinobi, and Sakura knew that neither one had ever seen a katana, let alone fought with one. The level of skill that her killer had meant that the children were out of the question, as did the fact that the killer was clearly taller than her and two kids less than five feet in height couldn't do that. Not only that, but neither sibling had the Sharingan.

Uchiha Kaoru was a possibility. He had had the Sharingan, but there was one problem. If Sakura's information was correct, then Kaoru had idolized Shisui, not Itachi. The Uchiha of legendary speed had died by his younger cousin's hands, and it was possible that Kaoru was trying to lure Itachi out by making Sakura's mission public. Still, she discarded the idea. The Uchiha had kept meticulous notes about their members and their fighting abilities. Kaoru was listed as being left handed, and though most shinobi were amibdexterous, their normally dominant hand was always the dominant hand with a sword. Kiyoshi's killer was right handed. There was not alternative.

There were others, but all could be discarded for one reason or another. Aside from the obvious reason, Uchiha Itachi was still her best suspect.

* * *

It was a day later when a blur of black and pink streaked past the gates of Konohagakure, stunning the newbie guards. Under a banner of pinks and oranges, she kept her speed up as Sakura raced across her hometown to her mentor's office. Tsunade would be awake. The pink-haired medic had not returned on time, and the blonde leader was constantly worried. Chances are, she would be both sleep and sake deprived in her office, just waiting for the Death Squad captain to return home.

The guards never moved as she flew through the halls on invisible wings, slipping silently into the elder medic's office with ease.

"You're late."

And Sakura had been right.

Tsunade looked tired. The circles under her eyes were darker, and the jutsu was fading. She looked far older than the twenty-something that she kept herself at. For a moment, the student felt guilty. She hated making Tsunade wait, but sometimes it was necessary. Now, for instance, was a time to make her wait without her knowing. Sakura needed to ease her newly acquired intelligence into the conversation.

Sakura stepped lightly, tossing her soaked cloak across a chair, her wolf mask coming off with it. She tugged lightly at the band in her hair, letting the pink locks fall down around her as she walked to her surrogate mother's side.

"I'm sorry."

Amber eyes darkened, "No you're not."

Sakura laughed lightly, "Yes, I am. I don't like seeing you like this."

"Then why didn't you return after killing Nobu?"

The ANBU wolf shrugged, "I didn't feel like it. The man accepted his death so easily, I just needed to get away for a while."

"Where did you go?" she asked.

"Ame," the younger answered, "I figured I might as well swing south and get Kiyoshi out of the way."

The fire shadow nodded, "And how did it go?"

"Well," Sakura shifted her weight uneasily, "He was already dead."

"And his family?"

"Dead as well."

Amber eyes were confused, "How? This had never happened before."

"I was left a message that read, 'This does not concern you,' on a wall."

"Written in what?" Tsunade's tone made it clear that she already saw the direction of the conversation.

"Blood," her student answered faithfully, slipping into captian mode, "Someone got there before me. A swordsman of high caliber."

"In other words," the Hokage began, "Someone knows about your mission."

"Someone with the Tsukiyomi."

The elder woman's alarm was almost tangible, "Tsukiyomi? Are you sure?"

"Positive. Kiyoshi-san showed clear signs of exposure prior to his death."

Tsunade swore loudly, "Do you realize what this means?"

"That another Uchiha has the Mangekyo," Sakura answered before returning to her usual docile persona, "Has Sasuke recovered yet?"

"That has nothing to do with this."

"Yes, it does. I'd like to question him about any intel he may have gain over the years. Who knows, he might have known about his family surviving. If he did, it's possible that he'd have investigated the claims. He might know if any of them have the Mangekyo."

The senior medic slumped against her chair, "I'm sorry, Sakura. He hasn't changed at all. There's been no improvement, which isn't good. Luckily, he hasn't gotten worse."

"This isn't something that should worsen in any case," the younger medic pointed out.

"Not this time," Tsunade answered, "Sasuke's case seems to be unnatural. It's been caused by something that I've never seen before. It's possible that Itachi's death triggered it, but that should be a normal case. His symptoms are like nothing I have ever seen before. This is something far removed from reality."

"Is he awake?"

"Yes. You can try talking to him, but don't expect results," the blonde replied, "And whatever you do, don't go in there in ANBU regalia. Go in your medic uniform. He knows you're a medic, and that will displace any fears of interrogation. Ask…"

"Questions that won't draw attention," Sakura finished, "I know. I was trained better than that."

Her beloved mentor smiled wistfully, "I know."

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A/N: I hate it when the first chapter is a transition. Next chapter Sakura will talk to Sasuke, and I'll let you know what has landed him in the hospital.

Thank you all for the reviews! I loved reading them all!

_Until Next Time,_

_Hikari Adams_


	3. Chapter 2: Dandelions in Bullet Holes

**Snow**

_Chapter Two_

_Dandelions in Bullet Holes_

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There was a reason that Haruno Sakura hated the psych ward. It was so quiet, the shinobi returning from blood-covered fields didn't talk much, and as such, there was no noise in the desolate part of the hospital. Uchiha Sasuke's room was on the top floor, at the end of the gloomy hall. Sakura didn't make a noise as she slipped down the corridor, the white shoes of her rarely worn uniform stepping like feathers on the snowy tiles. 

His name was scrawled on the board attached to his door, and Sakura had the distinct feeling that she was chasing her ghosts by coming to him for help. With a heavy sigh and an even heavier heart, she opened the door carefully, peeking in before crossing the threshold.

Sasuke was not the man she remembered loving so long ago. Then again, she knew that at twenty-three, she was not the young woman he remembered, if he even could. Ten years had passed since the Uchiha survivor had been in his hometown, and a part of her wished that it were under lighter circumstances. Instead of a warm welcome from his adoptive family, composed of his old teammates, he had been ushered immediately to the leading shinobi psychologist. Instead of Naruto taunting and challenging him, the blonde was nowhere to be found within Konoha's walls. He was somewhere far away, being groomed to lead the village.

Instead of a pink-haired girl with shining eyes and open arms, Sakura was stoic behind the mask of make-up and superficial smiles she wore. Instead of confessing and trying to take care of him, she was trying to find out whether or not he knew anything about a rogue with the Mangekyou.

She gave him a warm smile, closing her eyes the way Sai had instructed. She didn't need Sasuke to see the lack of emotion in those famous jade orbs.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun."

_Kun_. It was a term she rarely used after assuming her position among the elite. But Tsunade and Ibiki had both been specific in her meeting that morning. In his precarious state, she needed to stick to the familiar.

Sasuke didn't respond. He was sitting on the ledge of the windowsill, onyx eyes staring aimlessly over his former home. His hair, blacker and silkier than a raven's wing, was much longer than she remembered. A stray thought asked if it was maybe the same length as his hated brother's. 

She shook her head of the idea. 

His skin was sallow, and there were bruise-like bags under his blank eyes. He looked like he hadn't truly slept since before returning to Konoha, and that had been seven months ago. Her trained eyes noticed the way his clothes hung loose around his already willowy frame. He was too thin, she realized, and likely recovering from malnourishment. 

One hand, painted a hated pink, picked up his charts, emerald flickering over her mentor's words. 

Lack of sleep, refusal to eat, and the list only went on, the neat handwriting including some peculiar reactions. Idly, she noticed that there was no mention of self-abuse, or any other normal symptom. Her mentor's words about Sasuke being an unnatural case came back to her. Flicking to the back, she checked for personal notes the Hokage may have made, and she saw that he was refusing to speak to the blonde leader as well.

Ah, so that was why Tsunade had so readily agreed to send in the professional.

She set the charts down, pulling a chair over to the stoic man. One hand disappeared into her pocket, only to return with a knife and an apple redder than blood.

She peeled it silently, trying to remember it had felt like to be that little girl of innocence. She tried to recall that feeling of carelessness, back before she had espionage within her own people and finishing a massacre. She had been told to return to her old self for this interrogation. She had been told to stick to the behavior that her old comrades saw as normal.

One pearly piece of the apple fell into her hand and she held it out to Sasuke, never moving an inch from her seat. She would wait until he took it. If the time she had spent studying and hunting the scarlet-eyed family had taught her anything, it was that patience was always rewarded. 

After waiting for a while, she wasn't sure of the time but it was long enough that the muscles in her arm were screaming for relief and the apple had turned a sickly brown, he looked away from the window.

And the little girl locked in her heart felt like screaming.

Sakura was by no means a stranger to death. She led the squad with a higher rate of kills on a single, simple, mission than any other ANBU team. She worked on the team in which a D-rank was the equivalent to a normal S-rank. She had stared death in the eye and she had been death itself. 

Sasuke, however, was a completely different story.

He looked like a corpse, and the look in his eyes alone was enough to convince her that the boy she had loved for so long was dead. Of course, she hadn't had the chance to really think of him in close to five years, but that annoying little girl was still a part of her, buried deeply in the blood and the gore of her recent memory. 

Uchiha Sasuke was not alive. Sure, he had a beating heart and there was air being captured by his lungs, but he was still dead. 

A flash of something flitted across his face, and Sakura had to squish the hope of getting the information immediately.

She smiled again, "Is something wrong, Sasuke-kun?"

He stared at the apple for a beat, and then turned his attention to the pink-haired medic. She forced her smile, already forced like the professional she was, a little wider and repeated her question in a soprano voice that she hadn't used since she was seventeen.

"Sakura?"

His voice was not the crushed midnight velvet and flowing navy silk that she remembered. It wasn't the cool river that had found a way to burn her in her youth. It was more like a clock, ancient and long broken, creaking to life. Rusty and misused, it scratched and sounded higher than the baritone she knew he was. If she hadn't been watching him when her name slipped out, she never would have known that it had been his voice to call out.

She forced a giggle, the action unfamiliar but still polished, "Apple? I know you don't like them, Sasuke-kun, but it's too early for tomatoes."

Gingerly, he took the browned apple from her hand, his icy fingers brushing against her own. Without his notice, her eyes narrowed. The room was warm, and he had no reason to be that cold. 

The medical charts flashed through her mind, highlighting the line concerning his blood circulation. 

Damaged, she recalled, but Tsunade had repaired it.

She watched him carefully as he ate the piece of apple, almost as if he were afraid of poison. She cut him another piece, holding it out to him by the time he finished the first. It continued on like that until the apple was gone, only a smell and a sticky residue on her hands and the knife gave any indication to its existence.

She smiled up at him, her eyes closing enough to hide the cold interior of spring incarnate, "Can you tell me why you won't talk to Tsunade-shisou, Sasuke-kun?"

"The curse," he muttered in that fractured voice.

"What curse?" she asked lightly, nothing betraying the agitation building inside her with the bloodlust she kept smothered by a sheer film of logic, "Do you mean the curse seal? But that's gone, Sasuke-kun. It says so in Shisou's notes."

He shook his head, almost imperceptivity, but Sakura's sniper's gaze caught the movement, "No. The curse. My family."

She fought the urge to shift her weight. He was talking, but his answers were going nowhere. She asked as sweetly as she could, "What about your family, Sasuke-kun?"

"Cursed."

"By whom?" she asked, trying to redirect his one thought to something else.

"Madara. Uchiha Madara," he croaked, "He caused this."

Sakura tried to ignore the fact that her former almost lover muttered about a man who had died over a century before the birth of the Rookie Nine. 

"Sasuke-kun, what happened to you?"

"Curse."

She fought the urge to maim something, her frustration growing, "Sasuke-kun, can you tell me why you won't talk to Tsunade-sama?"

She didn't think he'd answer. She'd asked him before, and he had gone off on the tangent of the curse. Still, she had gotten him to speak in a complete sentence, so maybe he would say something else. Her hopes weren't high, but then he whispered hoarsely, "She's not a part. The curse doesn't want her. Madara."

Inside, she was muttering darkly about his inability to consistently speak in complete sentences. He was like a small child.

She froze. 

He was like a child. That was why nothing was working. Tsunade was treating him as a victim of shell shock, or some other psychological disorder associated with the battlefield, but that wasn't the problem at all. Something had forced him to retreat into himself, focused on something that he had never breathed a word of before, something that did not appear in any official record. 

It was like a rebound. 

She had only seen it once before, and Tsunade had forced her out of the room before she could see too much. The blonde had refused to tell her anything, but a late night heist into her mentor's office had given her the information needed.

Any jutsu could rebound. Minor cases usually ended in a small explosion of chakra, just enough to cause the user a minute amount of pain, and possibly some burns. Cases involving A-rank jutsu or higher usually ended in death, it was a simple fact, one that was taught in the Academy.

There were, as Sakura discovered, other cases involving special users of SS-rank jutsu, a rank that consisted of five forbidden techniques. It was restricted knowledge, and Sakura knew that Sasuke had to have had at least one of the techniques in his vast arsenal before this apparent rebound occurred.

The usual symptoms included withdrawal and insane mumblings, typically of forgotten or fragmented memories from early childhood. There were others, more physical in their nature, and she could recall each and every one appearing on his charts. 

Sasuke had been affected by a failed jutsu. 

The little girl sealed in her heart relaxed a little with the knowledge that the broken of her boys was going to be okay. She quickly brought up the healing jutsu from the abyss of her memory. The other Sakura, the dominant one that stalked the night as the fanged wolf, was ecstatic that she was going to have access to that precious information.

She smiled; this one closer to being real as she maliciously asked in a sugary voice, "Sasuke-kun, do you love me?"

"I have to," he creaked, "It's the curse."

Something froze, the ice running down her spine as fear tickled the edges of her mind. The curse made him love her? 

"Is that why you're talking to me, Sasuke-kun?"

"You're a part of the curse," he creaked, "The sun and the moon and the storm."

She took a deep breath to settle her racing mind, "Sasuke-kun, you're scaring me."

He shook his head, the flowing raven locks swaying with the movement, "The sun is falling. The curse. The moon is still rising. Madara. The storm is dying. Pride. The sun and the moon will collide. Death. But only after the storm is gone. Itachi. Only after the storm is gone."

It was the most he had said since his return, but it was by far the most cryptic thing she had ever heard. The sun and the moon colliding and the storm dying? And what did Itachi have to do with anything. As far as Sakura knew, although she did occasionally have traitorous thoughts, the elder brother was dead and gone.

She smiled weakly, trying to let out that light that Tsunade had often marveled at with the younger Sakura, "I need to do a check-up, Sasuke-kun."

He didn't say a word, and she let her hands glow green before finding him. There were no wounds, she noticed, but he was severely underweight, and seriously sleep deprived. Gently, like a mother running her hand over her child's forehead in search of a fever, Sakura reached one hand around the back of his neck, curling her painted finger against the cold skin beneath his dark hair. A small surge of chakra raced along her arm, reaching through his neck and to his spine. His eyes blurred, closing slowly as the healing jutsu took effect.

The Uchiha fell against her, sound asleep. Careful of her movements, she transferred him to the unused bed. She allowed herself one moment of tenderness as she attached the needed equipment and tucked him soundly into the pristine sheets. She brushed her lips across his forehead, muttering a farewell to her lost friend.

As she slipped out of the room, she turned back and whispered, "You always were full of surprises."

The door shut just as silently as her evanescent footsteps through the corridor. The silence of the psych ward, she mused, was just as deafening as the marketplace on Saturday. She pushed a loose tendril of cherry blossom hair out of her eyes, glancing out of the bright windows to see people bustling about in fair Konoha on the sunny day. She wondered briefly what would happen when Sasuke woke up. He would sleep soundly, she knew, and she also knew that he would wake up a different man than what she had just encountered.

A part of her wanted to know what he would be like when he woke up and returned to normal. Another, darker, part of her wanted to know whether or not he was going to end up on her updated list.

She stopped moving for a moment, basking in the rising sun for a while. The silence faded to something more tranquil, and she managed to find some light remaining in her tarnished soul to stabilize the dark enough to create some illusion of inner peace. For that moment, when the whole world held its breath for her, she let herself be the Haruno Sakura she had been before the Death Squad came about.

Her boys were safe, and all except Naruto were accounted for. Naruto didn't worry her that much. The blonde always came home, no matter what. Her mentor was happy, happier than she had been since Jiraiya had died all those years ago, and happy without sake for once. Shizune was relaxing at a hot springs outside of Konoha. The war was over, and all was safe. The sun was shining and she had no reason to worry.

It didn't matter that her former sensei, the legendary Hatake Kakashi, probably wanted her dead for investigating him for treason and ruining his career. It didn't matter that Sasuke and Naruto had a friendship—no, a brotherhood—that was probably so shattered that it could never be repaired. It didn't matter that Sai really wanted Sasuke dead. It didn't matter that the shinobi community viewed her as weak. It didn't matter that the Konoha elders had been pressuring Tsunade to drop Sakura as an apprentice and take on someone else, preferably Yamanaka Ino. It didn't matter that said kunoichi was one of Sakura's greatest critics. It didn't matter that some of the civilian children were beginning to place dandelions in the holes left by weapons in the training grounds as a way to protest the very existence of shinobi.

Yeah, she had nothing to worry about.

* * *

Just outside of the great city of Konohagakure, a shadow moved. 

His usually clear mind was preoccupied by a thought that should not have crossed his mind. A wolf with pink hair was of no concern to him, at least, it shouldn't have been. Simply wishing that she would heed his message was not enough. She was too stubborn to let it go that easily.

She had returned to her hometown just the day before, his katana gripped tightly in her hand. He wondered if she had checked it for identification. When she did, he wanted to know what she'd do. Would she run away from the mission in fright? No, she was too strong for that. She had proved that to him time and time again. Would she try to fight him? Yes, that was much more likely. She had surely deduced that he was an Uchiha himself, so it only made sense that she would add him to her list. 

He smirked. Perhaps she would be interesting after all. He had nothing to do, and she had already proved a challenge. 

Perhaps she was the key to ending the curse.

* * *

A/N: I loved writing this chapter. Crazy!Sasuke is so much fun. 

Of course, a big thank you goes to **Banira** for looking over this and finding all my mistakes.

Other 'thank you's go to: **darkwolfslayer, Spirit Seer, Kinkatia, Jester08, Clairessa-chan, Quiet Moon, SpeedDemon315, Blackscarlet47, aznkitty180, Hiei's Cute Girl, **and **acceptedmisconceptions**

_Imagination: an eco-friendly car that is powered by reviews, a clean and renewable fuel source._

_Hikari Adams_


	4. Chapter Three: The Psychic

* * *

_**Snow**_

_Chapter Three_

_The Psychic_

* * *

"Hanabi!"

The lavender-eyed girl glanced up from her resting place on the couch as her captain wandered in, "Yes, Sakura-senpai?"

The medic nodded, "Come with me, I've got a mission for you."

Faster than a flash of lighting, Hanabi was off of the furniture and faithfully following her captain to the recesses of the apartment. Sakura led her silently, stalking through the shadows of her own home with more comfort than she should in a safe place with proper lighting. She stepped into a small washroom, hitting the switch and illuminating the mint-green and vanilla paint that she had taken to the walls, back before she had joined the Death Squad and painted her life in red.

Hanabi stood beside the closed door, her lavender eyes averted as her captain undressed and disappeared behind the shower curtain, a cheery relic of green leaves and cobalt butterflies dancing on an imaginary wind. Sakura turned the water on, scalding hot, and steam rose throughout the tiny room.

"Hanabi, do you remember when I took you in?" she asked nonchalantly, rubbing the cold shampoo through her hair.

"Of course," the younger girl answered, taking the place of conversation in stride, "It was three years ago. I was fifteen. I had refused to follow a direct order from my father and the clan elders, and I was about to be punished. The Hokage couldn't do anything because it was a clan issue, and Hinata was too afraid to do anything to anger Father, but you went against the law and helped me escape without leaving any evidence. You took me to Suna, where we stayed with Temari-senpai and trained with the Suna elite. We were gone for months, and in that time, the Hyuuga calmed down. When we came back, I was safe, but I couldn't go back to the compound. It was then that Tsunade-sama decided to form the Death Squad to do the dirty work that she couldn't force the regular ANBU to do. You, Sai-san, and Yamato-san were already listed as members, but she wanted a fourth member. You requested that I be added as a junior member, and you let me live with you here. You've trained me, and Sai-san and Yamato-san trained me when you were away on missions."

"Do you remember that first mission?"

Hanabi stared at the mirror, watching the steam coat it to the point that only a mess of color could be seen, "Yes. You were sent on a red S-class mission to investigate Uchiha Sasuke and his team. The mission was a success, and you were soon assigned to a similar mission investigating Hatake Kakashi."

Sakura nodded, careful to keep the soapy water out of her eyes, "As result, Uchiha is going to be cautious of me when he wakes up sometime next week. I would like you to get close to him. This is a red mission, level A. I don't think Sasuke is going to be much trouble, but I'd like you to keep an eye on him. He was muttering some gibberish about a family curse and something involving Uchiha Madara. I'd like you to try and pry more information out of him when he's actually thinking."

"Understood, Sakura-senpai."

"And Hanabi?" she asked, her tone softening as she rinsed the last of the suds from her hair.

The Hyuuga daughter looked away from the foggy mirror, staring instead at the inconspicuous candle next to the sink, "Yes?"

"Be careful," Sakura whispered, her voice almost drowned by the falling water. Still, she knew that Hanabi heard her. She sighed heavily before raising the volume of her voice as one hand, forever stained with a crimson rain, reached for the little puffball hanging from the faucet and covered it in soap, "Sasuke isn't an idiot. He didn't graduate at the top of my class for nothing. You just need to seem like you're interested in training in the beginning, after he gets out of the hospital, and let things grow from there."

"I understand, Sakura-senpai."

Sakura bit her lip, remembering her own time with Sasuke before the rebound and before his return to Konoha, "And Hanabi?"

"Yes, Sakura-senpai?"

"Don't get attached. It will only end badly if you let your emotions get involved."

Hanabi closed her wintry lavender eyes, "I know, Sakura."

The pink-haired woman stood still, letting the searing water wash away the remains of the soap and try to burn away the memories, "I don't want to see you like that, Hanabi. I don't want you to turn out the way I did. You're still young. Don't make the same mistakes I did."

Outside of the shower, Hanabi bit her lip, trying to stop her own recollections, "I know."

Satisfied, Sakura turned off the water, replacing the jade puffball in the process. She pulled her towel, a fluffy burgundy, off of the rail beside the shower, running over her hair quickly before she wrapped it tightly around her body. When she stepped out, she met Hanabi's gaze with all the boldness of a thunderstorm. She walked past without a word, with the Hyuuga in tow.

Sakura led her down the hall, into a sparsely furnished room of lilac dusk and sage leaves. The younger kunoichi occupied herself with an examination of Sakura's messy desk as the elder medic began to dress.

"Sakura-senpai," she called, "How do you suggest I go about this mission? Uchiha men are not easy to approach. If I appear out of nowhere and request the opportunity to train with him, he's going to be suspicious."

She glanced over at the Byakugan wielder, adjusting her chest bindings, "I'm going to have Tsunade-sama list me as Sasuke's main medic when I go to get the update on my mission. Since I'll be gone, I'm going to have her list you as my second, and you'll treat him while I'm away. He'll wake up in about a week, and I'll be gone for about a month or so. You'll have plenty of time to charm him into telling you everything."

Hanabi nodded, glancing up to see her superior pull on a crimson undershirt. Before the fabric covered her shoulders, the Hyuuga could see a twisted lake of ruined flesh peeking out from her bindings.

She flinched slightly, remembering with far too much clarity the incident that scarred her mentor so.

"I understand," she murmured, averting her glacial violet eyes once again.

"Good," Sakura continued, pulling her obsidian vest over the bloody shirt, "I'll want your first report when I return."

The medic pulled her ebony and jade mask of fine porcelain from a box hidden at the back of her armoire. Her cloak, a dusty brown, went over it all, concealing every inch of Haruno Sakura from curious eyes.

Hanabi nodded, "Naturally."

"And Hana?" Sakura called, and though the wolf mask muffled her voice, her underling could hear the softer tone of the guarded Sakura breaking free of Toga's hold.

She gave a soft smile, "Yes?"

"You can drop the 'senpai'. I might be your captain, but you do live with me," Sakura began, "We might be a part of the cruel and apathetic Death Squad, but we're all we've got. As dysfunctional as it is, this team is a family."

Hanabi nodded and watched her captain return to being Toga once again as the wolf of the night stalked past her and out of the spacious apartment.

Once outside, Sakura glanced around for any witnesses, seeing none, she vanished in a blur, speeding across the rooftops with the wind. She was faster than the majority of her former comrades, and she was fairly certain that Rock Lee would be the only one capable of outrunning her.

Tsunade tossed a scroll at her when she arrived, "You've got to go undercover. One of my spies in Iwa recently reported than an Uchiha woman had checked into the hospital few days ago. Yamamoto-san should meet you at the border with a proper disguise. She'll inform you of everything you need to know, and from there, you'll be posing as a new doctor. Yamamoto-san has already forged the documents for your transfer from Yukigakure, and the leader of that country has signed everything needed. Now, what happened with Sasuke?"

"It was caused by a rebound of a SS-rank jutsu," she reported, "I would like you to list me as his primary caretaker, but while I'm gone, please assign Hyuuga Hanabi to be my replacement. I would like her in place to keep an eye on him. His words were nonsensical, and I would like to know what jutsu it was that caused the rebound."

"I'll have Shizune process the paperwork today," the Hokage said quietly, "I take it that you will be avoiding him as much as possible?"

Behind the mask, Sakura grimaced, "I was sent on a kunoichi mission to investigate him, Tsunade. I don't think he's going to trust me when he comes to his senses. Hanabi is an unknown for him. She's the safe choice out of the Death Squad. Sasuke will not trust any team leader other than Hatake-san, and he has already shown a deep dislike towards Sai. That rules out the two male members of the team. In addition, he knows to watch out for any suspicious movement that I might make. As for Hanabi, he only knows her in passing as Hinata-san's little sister. She has never done anything to inspire caution in him."

Her mentor laughed darkly, "I didn't ask you to explain your rationale, Sa—Toga. My mistake, I didn't mean to address you by the wrong name."

The wolf nodded, "I'll be on my way."

* * *

It took her an hour of travel at top speed to reach the border. Before leaving, Tsunade had pointed out the meeting point on the map, and sure enough, a wiry young woman with large glasses and short brown hair stood at the door of the selected cave.

"You must be Toga-sama," she greeted, bowing slightly at the waist, "I am Yamamoto Honoka."

The wolf stopped just inside the cave, turning slightly to watch the rain clouds gather on the horizon, "How soon until we reach Iwagakure?"

Honoka's expression stayed apathetic, but her brown eyes showed some surprise at the harsh, yet clearly feminine, tone of the ANBU in front of her, "Roughly an hour. They understand that you are a shinobi, a Yukigakure jonin by the name of Makoto."

Sakura nodded, "And my disguise?"

"It's over there," she said, pointing to a box obscured by shadow, "If you go further into the cave, there's a spring, so you'll be able to apply the hair dye here. Your uniform is also in there. Hokage-sama sent something to cover up your eye color, but I don't know what it is."

The wolf simply nodded once more, vanishing into the shadows. When she returned, Honoka was greeted with a raven-haired woman with eyes as dark as those that the wolf hunted. Sakura stood carefully, adjusting the tiny white uniform of an Iwagakure medic.

"Shall we go? I would rather not be caught in the approaching rain," she began, "I just returned from Amegakure, and I have had too much rain in the past few days to want to be out in it again."

Honoka nodded and led the unusual wolf away from the cave. The duo traveled in silence for almost half an hour when the undercover kunoichi finally said, "Tsunade said that you would tell me what I need to know about my target."

"Her name is Kuroda Masami, but when I ran her blood tests, she tested positive for the Sharingan. I sent the results to Konoha, and apparently she's really Uchiha Rina. She's in the ward with the lowest security, and I went in and altered the records, so you will be her main caretaker when you arrive. She'll be an easy case, as she recently had a major surgery, and it would be easy to make it look like something went wrong when the Iwa doctors performed it."

Sakura nodded, "That sounds easy enough, but you're not telling me everything."

The petite brunette almost stumbled. When she had heard that Konoha would be sending an assassin after the Uchiha runaway, she had carefully planned everything she was going to say. She was a spy, one of the best liars on Konoha's register. The wolf running beside her was an unknown ANBU, and she couldn't be normal if she could see through the carefully woven lies Honoka had built.

"She's in the maternity ward," she admitted, "Because few kunoichi have children, and most shinobi families have doctors come to them, the ninja there refuse to waste troops on protecting civilian infants. Don't ask me why, I've been there since the Great War and even I don't understand it."

"It's because Iwagakure is a place for shinobi. That's all they care about. The civilians are unwanted guests in their village," Sakura murmured, "So, is Rina-san expecting?"

Honoka shook her head, silently marveling at the use of a respectful suffix with the runaway, "No. She recently gave birth to a little boy. It was a c-section, but they're both in good health right now."

"That can easily be fixed, as you pointed out. Iwa's surgeons are not the best in the business, especially the civilian surgeons."

"Correct," the spy continued, "The little boy is named Kuroda Ryuunosuke."

"Am I going to have to hunt down her husband?"

The spy shook her head, "The traitor is a recent widow. Her husband was a merchant. He died a couple of months ago while traveling through Ame no Kuni."

Sakura's expression turned dark, "Ame no Kuni? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, it was a problem for a while because he was one of the few civilian merchants that supplied the shinobi with metal for their weapons."

The assassin nodded, "Let's get there as soon as possible, Honoka-san."

When the two arrived at the hospital, they were ignored. Honoka had ushered the disguised Sakura to the runaway's room, leaving her there with a promise to come back in a few minutes.

With a deep breath, she walked in, smiling warmly, "Hello, Masami-san. I'm Makoto, your new doctor."

The Uchiha woman was young. If Sakura had to guess, she'd say that she was only a few years older than Itachi would have been. Her dark hair was like absolute midnight, her cobalt eyes just as searching as Sasuke's.

She managed a small smile in return, "Hello, Makoto-sensei."

Sakura noted that her voice was soft and polite, just like an upper-class woman's was meant to be, "Masami-san, have you been feeling any discomfort?"

"No," she answered, "But I would like to know when I can see my son."

Ah, the son. Sakura inwardly grimaced, but was careful to keep the expression from showing on her face. Sakura hated killing children, and the fact that Ryuunosuke was a newborn simply made it worse. A part of her held a grudge against her mentor, the blonde leader of Konoha, for pushing her to eliminate all Uchiha.

"Ryuunosuke-kun should be with you in a couple of hours. I'm sure the nurse will bring him in for feeding soon."

The Uchiha nodded, "Of course."

A knock at the door pulled Sakura away from her bedside as the medic stepped out into the hall.

There was no one there, but a voice whispered from the shadows, "I told you to stay out of this, kunoichi."

And Sakura's stone heart froze.

* * *

A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed, and a huge thank you to Banira for beta'ing this. I would write more, but there's a thunderstorm and my computer has a habit of being struck by lightning (don't ask me how, it just does).

Reviews are always a way to brighten a rainy day (and there are way too many where I am right now)!

Hikari Adams


	5. Chapter Four: World on Fire

**_Snow_**

_Chapter Four_

_World On Fire_

* * *

Masami was a good patient, Sakura soon learned. Amid the dryness of Iwa, she had thrived, surviving with all the stubbornness of a true Uchiha. The pinkette also learned more about the woman, and found herself increasingly reluctant to carry out her orders.

"So how did you end up in Iwagakure, Makoto-sensei?"

The question took her by surprise, but she answered, "I'm just a young medic. My sensei decided that it would do me some good to study elsewhere, so I was sent here to work under Honoka-sensei. What about you, Masami-san?"

"Family problems," she replied as Sakura began checking her charts, "My clan was eliminated during a civil war. Iwagakure, though an enemy for as long as I can recall, was the only place I could find salvation from the carnage. I had been out of town when it happened, and it had been my husband's sister who informed me of the incident. She let me come back here when she learned that I had nowhere else to go."

Masami was a kind woman, and Sakura was repeatedly surprised by her candid, though slightly edited, tales of her family. She was amazing to watch, the medic discovered. Masami, for an Uchiha, was warmhearted and kind, and she genuinely wanted her son to grow up free of the manipulation she had faced in Konoha.

Masami was probably the first one that Sakura could not bring herself to kill. She was everything that Sakura was supposed to be. She was loving and gentle, not bitter and broken. She was the light that Sakura had once been called. Ryuu-kun, as he had been dubbed, was also a sweetheart, and Sakura was forced to remember how good it felt to work away from the trauma of the ER, and spend time with the small bundles and glowing souls in the maternity ward.

The day before, she had been called out into the hall by some specter wishing to warn her. She had found no one there, but the icy feeling of someone watching her had never left.

She put down the charts, "Everything looks good, Masami-san. There are just a few minor problems with the procedure, but those can be taken care of tomorrow. Right now, I'll go get Ryuu-kun."

The woman smiled and bid her faux doctor her thanks as she slipped out the door.

Sakura frowned. Kuroda Masami, or Uchiha Rina as she was really named, was too healthy. She was going to have to have Honoka forge a few documents if she was going to pull off the mission successfully. She sighed and began walking, her brown shoes echoing with each step through the corridor. Ryuunosuke was just down the hall, and she _had_ promised to bring the infant to his mother.

A doctor fell into step with her.

"You must be the Yuki transfer," he spoke softly, his lilting voice flowing smoother than ice.

She forced a smile, "I am Makoto."

Out of the corner of her eye, for she did not turn to face him, she saw him nod, "You have a name that means 'sincerity'. That's a rare name among shinobi."

"And you are?"

"Ryou," he answered, "I'm a new doctor here."

Her lips quirked up, her eyes hiding her thoughts with practiced care, "Ryou-sensei it is. I have a job to do, if you don't mind."

"Kuroda Ryuunosuke," he said quietly, "Yes, I've been assigned to work with you on the case."

Sakura fought the urge to stop. The way he called it a case unnerved her slightly. This doctor, whom she had never encountered before, had spoken as if he were to help her with the assassination. It was then that she decided to carefully feel the air around her, checking for any residual chakra that might be escaping his person.

There was none, but the air seemed to be colder around him. He was dangerous, she realized, but he was an Iwa doctor, so of course he was dangerous to her, a Konoha kunoichi. When she turned to get a better view of him, he was already far enough ahead of her that nothing of detail could be seen, aside from the fact that he was obviously arrogant. His broad shoulders did not slouch, instead, he walked with an air of dignity that she had only seen among the vainly proud Hyuuga. His hair was a light brown, almost blond, and tied back in a style that reminded her of that Akatsuki with the clay birds.

He stopped and turned slightly, his face obviously soft behind the glasses that he wore, "Are you coming, Makoto-san?"

She recovered quickly and moved faster, catching up and passing him as swiftly as the wolf from whom she took her porcelain mask, the one hidden in the border cave, "My apologies, Ryou-san."

The nursery was at the end of the hall, and Sakura slipped in easily. It didn't escape her notice that the young doctor stayed close behind her at all times. He disturbed her. It wasn't something she could hide from herself. The man was off-kilter, and it bothered her. For someone who fought the Akatsuki before they went underground to recoup, she was unnerved by a relatively handsome doctor.

It was that cold pocket of air that seemed to wrap around him in a lethal embrace. It was something that she had never encountered in Oto or the Akatsuki. It wasn't human, and it made her nervous.

Ryuunosuke was at the far corner of the room, sleeping soundly. His cobalt eyes were closed, his pale lips parted as he breathed evenly. His features were nothing like the patrician profile Sakura had become accustomed to seeing with a head of raven wing hair, and she was forced to admit that he was rather adorable. For an Uchiha, his was cute with all of his baby fat still in place.

"So this is Ryuunosuke-kun?"

Sakura shivered at her companion's words. Hesitantly, she took a look over her shoulder.

Ryou was standing off to the side, his blue eyes focused on her. His face was slightly round, and under normal conditions she would have been attracted to his cute features. He was nothing like the Uchiha she was spending time with as of late. Instead, he seemed even more sinister, like the mad barber who might slit his customer's throat, or the psychotic man in the basement, the one who liked to drive people mad with mirrors and ropes.

"Ryou-sensei?" a new voice called. Sakura chanced a glance around the larger doctor to see a young nurse standing behind him.

"Yes?"

The nurse said, "You're needed by Yamamoto-sensei."

The doctor seemed slightly disgruntled at the prospect, but Sakura was more than pleased when he left. The nurse stayed, explaining that Honoka had sent him to help her with the tests.

Sakura frowned, she hadn't planned any tests for Ryuu-kun, and Honoka knew Sakura wasn't planning on executing her mission objective for another day or two, when they were discharged from the hospital.

The nurse, who introduced himself as Karasu, was slightly taller than her. His brown hair was long, pulled back with his bangs framing his face. He was delicately featured, his green eyes almost feminine. There was something vaguely familiar about him, she thought, and realized with the slight disturbance of chakra in the air that he was not a nurse.

She stepped in front of the sleeping infant, hissing, "Who are you?"

"A friend," he answered.

"I can handle this mission fine by myself."

Karasu laughed, "I'm not from Konoha."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat, her long-forgotten panic returning. She had left it all behind when she became Toga so long ago, but it was coming back.

Sasuke's nonsensical words were getting to her, she decided. It was the only explanation. Ever since he had put that silly notion of a curse in her head, she hadn't been able to sleep right, and she couldn't focus on what she was doing. Was her mission a part of what he was muttering about? Was she condemning herself to tragedy by carrying out Tsunade's unfavorable orders?

"Did you kill Kiyoshi-san?" she demanded quietly.

"No," he answered, "But I am the one who left the message. The real culprit is trying to involve you in something that does not concern you. My advice is to get out before it's too late."

She relaxed a little, only to slip into an inconspicuous defensive stance, "Who are you, and why are you trying to keep me out of this? Do you know what's going on?"

"I'm trying to keep you out before this ends with more deaths than is necessary. I do know what is going on, but I cannot tell you."

"Why are you here?"

He took a step forward, his spidery hands held out in front, as if he were approaching the wolf Sakura pretended to be as she hid behind her now-missing mask, "I'm here to help."

"Karasu-san, I can assure you that no help is needed," she informed him sharply, "Neither Masami-san nor Ryuunosuke-kun are a big enough threat for me to require help."

He shook his head, his brown hair swaying with the movement, "_Makoto_, you do not have to do this. Your Kage will believe you if you pass along a fake report."

"Are you telling me to lie to Konoha?" she hissed, ignoring the familiar tone he had used with her alias.

He nodded, "Rina-san does not need to die. She is innocent of this whole affair, and I know you don't want to kill an infant. I was there when you found Noriko-chan. You don't like harming infants, as apathetic as you seem to be."

"You're right, I don't like killing children," she conceded, "And I don't want to hurt Masami-san or Ryuu-kun. Still, there is a Konoha operative in this hospital, and I know she is not above reporting me if I step outside my mission."

"Then let me help you," he pleaded softly, taking another step towards her, "I can get them out of here, all you would have to do is make sure they appear dead."

"And Honoka?" she inquired.

"Leave her to me."

She could see in his eyes, green like the grass in spring, shining with the hope that she would let go of her mission. She couldn't blame him though. Under normal circumstances, it would have been preposterous to think she would forge a mission. This was different. Masami, or Rina, had managed to revive the old Sakura. She had managed to become the Sakura who cared in the past few days. She didn't have to pretend either. She wasn't pretending to be something she wasn't, as she did in Konoha. In Iwa, she really was just a medic, even though she was lying. She wasn't being sent on any missions, and she was allowed to work solely in the hospital. She wasn't faced with shinobi at every turn, nor was she faced with cruel reminders of what she had sacrificed. She could just be Sakura in that worn-down hospital for Iwagakure civilians.

"What happens if I trust you?"

Karasu offered a half-smile, lighting up his handsome features. Sakura was mildly reminded of Sasuke, and of the few times in their shared years that she saw him smile. She tried to eradicate the memories of the later years before they returned completely as she focused on the man before her.

"If you trust me," he replied, "I promise that I will do my best to keep you away from this conflict."

"Will I be able to continue my mission?" she demanded.

He laughed softly, "I should have known. A loyal kunoichi like you is always concerned with the mission."

She snarled, "Answer me."

"Yes," he whispered, taking another step towards her. At only a breath away, he lifted her chin so that emerald met jade, "You would be able to continue the mission. However, I would like my sword back. Your killer stole it."

"Why?"

He shrugged, never releasing her from his hold, "It used to be his. I suppose he wanted it for his most gruesome kill."

"Your sword is far from here," she replied, "I'd have to go and retrieve it tonight."

It was the truth. She hadn't had the time to check the sword for identification in Konoha, so she had packed it with her own in the scroll she left hidden in the cave. If this Karasu was willing to help her avoid the pointless death of a mother and her babe, then Sakura was willing to give up her only clue. Of course, it went unsaid that she would be checking the katana for identification.

"Good," he replied, "Have it here tomorrow morning, preferably before sunrise."

"Where?"

Karasu paused to think, "In Iwa, there's a fountain off to the side. It's in a part of the city that was crippled in the last Great War. The fountain is dry, and the area is deserted. I'll be there at five."

She nodded, "Take Ryuu-kun to his mother. He stays there for a few hours. Masami-san will tell you when it's time to bring him back to the nursery."

"And where will you be?"

She smirked, brushing past his white-clothed form, "I will be going to get that katana."

* * *

True to her word, Sakura had left Honoka with a message that she had forgotten something vital in that border cave. With a quick change of clothes, she was back on the path, racing through the ferrous landscape. On either side of her, mountains rose in crooked hooks and other forms. The rain, which had not let up since her arrival in Iwa, had turned the sky inky grey. After spending so much time in the rocky terrain, she found herself missing the sound of rain hitting leaves.

She also wondered what she had gotten herself into.

Karasu was trying to help her, he claimed. She was certain that Ryou was her killer. The chilly air around him was lethal, and her impromptu helper had shown signs of hostility when he sent the man off to Honoka. The fact that he knew Honoka was a spy, which he obviously had to if he sent Ryou to her, meant he knew a fair amount about the workings of Konoha. Still, as much as she was blindly trusting Karasu, something she hadn't done in years, she couldn't help but feel something was off.

He had said the sword was his, but that it originally belonged to her killer. Did that mean that any identification symbols would be void due to the change in ownership? Not only that, but how did he know a sector of Iwa was still deserted from the war?

To top it off, why was there a crow flying over her head?

The bird had stayed with her since Iwa, its black wings beating through the rain and wind. She had never seen a bird flying in such weather, and the small pulse of chakra radiating from it told her it was a summons of some kind. She knew she had seen it before, but no memories surfaced when she called.

"What kind of shinobi summons crows?" she whispered under her breath, more to distract herself than anything else.

She reached the cave, slower than she had left it due to flooding, and when she got there, she and the bird took refuge inside.

Her scroll was hidden beside the now-swollen spring at the back, sealed inside a rock. She bit her finger, wiping the blood over the kanji of her name, and pushed the burning energy from her arm to the stone.

The scroll fell out, and she repeated her actions to draw out the stranger's sword.

It was ANBU, as she had guessed, but it was different. She had only seen the detail of the hilt and guard on the special issue katanas given only to captains. She turned over the blade, trying to ignore the way the blood had dried on it, and trying to forget its last victim.

Around the top of the blade, there was a design. It was a circle, similar to her own, with a burning image in the center. She squinted to see the light reflecting off of it, and nearly threw the sword away when she did.

The design was of a river carrying flowers away, the blossoms accompanied by a burning fan.

According the book she had memorized, the one of all Konoha ANBU captains and their designs, this one belonged to a dead man.

It wasn't possible. Everyone had already agreed that he was dead, yet Karasu had plainly said that he was alive. The only question was which one was which? Should she be trusting Karasu? Based on his personality, Ryou was looking like he might be a dead man walking.

She fixed her eyes on the crow, realizing that she did recognize the bird. It had been during the mission to spy on Sasuke, and it had been used in battle and for tracking. Yet Sasuke wasn't the master.

Uchiha Itachi was still alive.

* * *

A/N: I was really worried about this chapter, but considering the fact that Banira didn't say anything about ruining the plot, I'm going to assume that the mystery is still there.

Also, I will be ignoring Kishimoto's recent revelations about Uchiha Itachi in this story.

Thank you **Banira** for beta'ing!

Thank you: **Viridis, EverMindTheRuleOfThree, Izzy Seijin, Anonymous, subskadi, pamellka, Shade, Animeprincess514, SpeedDemon315, Jester08, ArtStar, Hiei's Cute Girl, priscalthum, Clairessa-chan, SasukeSakuraxXXxItachiSakura, Crazy Neko Girl, Spirit Seer, Quiet Moon, Kinkatia, aznkitty180, Ita-ta, ArjunaAnja, BlackOnyx83, PeculiarlyOrdinary, Blackscarlet47.**

_Recommendations for pest exterminators should be left via the little lilac button. Sakura needs someone who specializes with crows._

_Hikari Adams_


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